The present invention relates to an automatic control system, such as an FA system. Specifically, it relates to an automatic control system which is configured so that a control program (control applet) to control the control object device is downloaded to the control device (computer device) having a browser function and an interpreter environment through the network and executed. This allows a control program to be utilized independently of the difference in processor, OS, bus configuration, network (communication) protocol, etc.
Up to now, for the purposes of achieving labor saving and higher reliability, automatic control systems using a computer to automatically control a variety of control objects and control object devices have been used in a number of fields. Examples include actuator controllers for a variety of machine tools used in the production lines at a variety of manufacturing plants, controllers for assembling machines, and production management systems to make integrated control of these controllers, plant management systems, and other FA systems, medical systems to control such devices as ultrasonic diagnostic devices, and CT scanning devices, DNA experimental analyzing systems.
These conventional automatic control systems essentially comprise a control device (computer device) providing the heart of the control system, and a variety of devices, such as machine tools, which are objects of control, and are configured so that the computer reads the control program stored in the storage, such as the hard disk device provided for the computer device, and executes it, whereby automatically controlling the object, such as a machine tool, to the desired state.
With the technical advance of the microprocessor and magnetic disk device in recent years, microprocessors having high performance and hard disk devices with large capacities have become available at low cost and in quantity, thus the configuration of the automatic control system has been diversified in such a way that the computer device providing the heart of a control system is configured so that it hierarchically connects devices different in performance, such as operation speed, and storage capacity to each other with a network, and the control object device itself incorporates a microprocessor having a basic control function.
Therefore, in the present situation, control programs are prepared separately by using languages, instruction formats, and data formats which can vary depending upon the system supplier, the manufacturer supplying a control object device, such as a machine tool, and the user who employs such system and device, and upon the OS (operating system) for the computer device with which the control program itself is executed, the bus configuration between computer devices, or between a computer device and the object device controlled by the computer device, the network (communication) protocol, etc.
However, the conventional automatic control systems as mentioned above have presented problems of that there is the need for separately preparing a control program every time a computer device with a different OS is used, or every time the bus configuration between computer devices, or between a computer device and the object device controlled thereby, the network (communication) protocol, or other is different, thus, the man-hours and cost for control program development are increased, and the man-hours for control program management is also increased.
Also, using a personal computer, the standardization of which has progressed in recent years, as an automatic control system presents various problems of that there is the need for providing an OS, hard disk device, memory, etc. dedicated for the personal computer, and especially with a manufacturing plant, measures against vibrations and heat must be taken.
The present invention has been provided to solve the problems as stated above, being intended to offer an automatic control system allowing a control program to be utilized independently of the difference in computer device constituting an automatic control system, OS for computer device, or bus configuration between computer devices, or between a computer device and the object device controlled thereby, network (communication) protocol, etc.
To achieve the above purposes, the present invention offers an automatic control system comprising a server (160) offered by a service provider that stores control applets to control a particular control object device, a control device (120) comprising a control object device (140) and a computer device (130) to control the control object device, and a network (150) to connect the server with the control device; the computer device comprising a browser function (132), and an interpreter (134) to execute the control applet, and the computer device being configured for accessing the server through the network to download and execute a desired control applet, whereby making control the control object device.